tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post7585278472295842263..comments2015-03-31T16:17:15.345-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SUNDAY, Mar. 4, 2007 - Randolph RossRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57278835587560067872007-03-11T12:10:00.000-04:002007-03-11T12:10:00.000-04:00I'd like to take 'a rip' at Wil Shortz on Fri (not...I'd like to take 'a rip' at Wil Shortz on Fri (not CBS) for making me stay on 'trac' with this puzzle. 'Random' or not, I found your Blog. And I was suprised to find someone 'following suit' with my 'enigma'. So as not to have 'the last word' or to be compared to one who 'drones on'I shall simply sat 'bravo'!<BR/>Sammy921@hotmail.comSuzanne E Bellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61228430180960481122007-03-05T14:14:00.000-05:002007-03-05T14:14:00.000-05:00AHA! I've been reading your blog for a month and ...AHA! I've been reading your blog for a month and FINALLY we have had a similar experience in solving a puzzle. Usually what you call "gimmes" I find to be headscratchers and I end up feeling like a second-rate puzzler. Now I feel I can hang with the pros - woohoo!Bennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15856536979083932882007-03-05T08:55:00.000-05:002007-03-05T08:55:00.000-05:00My best friend once had a boyfriend who thought sh...My best friend once had a boyfriend who thought she looked like Rebecca Pidgeon. (She doesn't.)Orangehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559144141235215318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2738851051426234802007-03-05T08:34:00.000-05:002007-03-05T08:34:00.000-05:00LaserWolf-Some of those are good, esp woot (a "bac...LaserWolf-<BR/><BR/>Some of those are good, esp woot (a "backronym!!!") and D'OH and PFUI. I veto the rest for being drawn from shows / books I don't care for much. But we're making headway.<BR/><BR/>RP<BR/><BR/>PS I saw "pwn3d" in print yesterday (well, e-print) but it was written "powned" which is an interesting variant. Instead of the typical typo of "p" for "o," you get the less often seen but still fairly common double-letter typo of "po" for "o." Actually, I saw it in "Yet Another Comics Blog" (sidebar)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44503911833773632712007-03-05T01:27:00.000-05:002007-03-05T01:27:00.000-05:00In descending order:PWN3Dw00tAB FABYADA YADAD'OHPF...In descending order:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwn3d" REL="nofollow">PWN3D</A><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W00t#W" REL="nofollow">w00t</A><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab_fab" REL="nofollow">AB FAB</A><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yada_Yada" REL="nofollow">YADA YADA</A><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27oh" REL="nofollow">D'OH</A><BR/><A HREF="http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2007/01/tuesday-jan-30-2007-nancy-salomon.html" REL="nofollow">PFUI</A><BR/><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/11.25.html" REL="nofollow">NO MAS</A><BR/>(<A HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/belgium.shtml" REL="nofollow">BELGIUM</A>)<BR/><BR/>How's that for starters?<BR/><BR/>-LaserWolfAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42698560200276140152007-03-05T00:35:00.000-05:002007-03-05T00:35:00.000-05:00costcostDonaldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84126054318541252842007-03-05T00:33:00.000-05:002007-03-05T00:33:00.000-05:00Country-mous:Having spent several years with the C...Country-mous:<BR/><BR/>Having spent several years with the Capuchin Franciscans, (I found)the noun (Fra) was common.<BR/><BR/>Or,<BR/><BR/>Having spent several years with the Capuchin Franciscans, the nun was common.<BR/><BR/>Just brevity at the oost of clarity.Donaldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64081367142002050242007-03-04T22:36:00.000-05:002007-03-04T22:36:00.000-05:00bless you, sir, for providing witty and intelligen...bless you, sir, for providing witty and intelligent relief to what have been until now highly private agonies. i suspect, however, that i've graduated to a new realm of agonies, in which i resist the spoiler (i do the nyt xwords in syndication...i've got a sort of old-mass-media nostalgia for the community paper) as well as the temptation to read ahead for bits of info that just might stick.Margaret Schwartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14530817205948045747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65587842539706188452007-03-04T22:04:00.000-05:002007-03-04T22:04:00.000-05:00Pidgeon, schmidgeon. I'm sure that Sandy (I think ...Pidgeon, schmidgeon. I'm sure that Sandy (I think it is?) is much nicer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44593154215588159472007-03-04T21:50:00.000-05:002007-03-04T21:50:00.000-05:00Rebecca Pidgeon! I know her too. She is Scottish, ...Rebecca Pidgeon! I know her too. She is Scottish, I think, and most certainly sang with a group called <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Blue" REL="nofollow">Ruby Blue</A>, an album with at least one song with lyrics by ... David Mamet. I wore my Ruby Blue album (tape, actually) out about ... 13 years ago, and I don't think you can get it now, anywhere (it was a 1990 album, entitled Down from Above). <BR/><BR/>Explaining how I know all this about Rebecca Pidgeon would involve my wandering into "Women I Never Should Have Dated" territory, and I'd rather not.Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15579519539357344672007-03-04T21:39:00.000-05:002007-03-04T21:39:00.000-05:00I was so happy with the DORIS DAY gimme until much...I was so happy with the DORIS DAY gimme until much later I looked again and noticed the 1934 year. And while I could picture the woman I didn't know her name and had no accrosses since DORIS DAY was blocking everything.<BR/><BR/>I really didn't like WHISH. I don't even accept that as a word. WHOOSH, sure, but not WHISH. So, when it was WHIS- I went with WHISP which screwed up RANDOM HOUSE and sent me down the wrong track of thinking it was a sentence ending with USE UNABRIDGED. As always, once I get wrong thinking in my head I prove very difficult to move off of it and that hurt bad.<BR/><BR/>I really liked the presence of DOOFUS. My wife was really pleased with herself for getting BROCADES without any help.<BR/><BR/>WIDGEONS screwed us up. My wife said PIDGEONS and I said "no, that's not now it is spelled, though Rebecca PIDGEON is married to David Mamet." But in the end I (having never heard of a widgeon) decided that PIDGEON and APARE must be words. Stupid me.<BR/><BR/>And why has knowing who David Mamet is married to never come in handy?Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543077687426776863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4868409789427316022007-03-04T20:27:00.000-05:002007-03-04T20:27:00.000-05:00This exact theme/gimmick has appeared previously i...This exact theme/gimmick has appeared previously in the NYTimes, and it was a tad tiresome seeing all those prepositions prefacing phrases again! Still, a good brain exercise, as always.<BR/><BR/>I got stuck for a long while in the EAR-TO-EAR/IDEST region. EDNA did not help. I kept wanting her to be Doris Day, but she (Doris) would have been only 10 in 1934.<BR/><BR/>HA! Just checked, and DD was in the 1956 version with Jimmy Stewart; EB was in the '34 version with Leslie Banks. So there.Ultra Vinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21828939645574245572007-03-04T19:39:00.000-05:002007-03-04T19:39:00.000-05:00Tell us Donald:Who or what spent several years wit...Tell us Donald:<BR/><BR/>Who or what spent several years with the Capuchin Franciscans? Surely not the noun? <BR/><BR/>Or am I once again naively missing some kind of inside joke?<BR/><BR/>Signed, <BR/>Country-mousAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86117174063168559942007-03-04T18:43:00.000-05:002007-03-04T18:43:00.000-05:00I believe Fra, meaning brother, was a title given ...I believe Fra, meaning brother, was a title given to an Italian friar or monk. Having spent several years with the Capuchin Franciscans, the noun was common.Donaldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63287857351261042232007-03-04T17:45:00.000-05:002007-03-04T17:45:00.000-05:00Naw, it's named after Fran Gelico.Actually, see Wi...Naw, it's named after Fran Gelico.<BR/><BR/>Actually, <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frangelico" REL="nofollow">see Wikipedia</A>.Orangehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559144141235215318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49560419303645474652007-03-04T17:37:00.000-05:002007-03-04T17:37:00.000-05:00Is the liqueur Frangelico related to Fra Angelico?...Is the liqueur Frangelico related to Fra Angelico?<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the heads up on the PWN3D "misspelling," Orange. <BR/><BR/>RPRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1772232085864790022007-03-04T17:15:00.000-05:002007-03-04T17:15:00.000-05:00Fra Angelico (born c. 1400, Vicchio, Florence [Ita...Fra Angelico <BR/><BR/>(born c. 1400, Vicchio, Florence [Italy] — died Feb. 18, 1455, Rome) Italian painter and Dominican friar active in Florence.Donaldnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24165863582140316692007-03-04T14:32:00.000-05:002007-03-04T14:32:00.000-05:00Somehow I knew you must've been at IHOP.I believe ...Somehow I knew you must've been at IHOP.<BR/><BR/>I believe the proper spelling is pwn3d rather than p3wned, but the dictionary is not helping here. Maybe quicksand for one notch below no mas?<BR/><BR/>In addition to the ELIEs Wiesel and Saab, there's also another fashion designer, <A HREF="http://elietahari.neimanmarcus.com/?ecid=ETSGTMKtahari" REL="nofollow">Elie Tahari</A>.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Elise" REL="nofollow">Kimberly ELISE</A> played Oprah's daughter in <I>Beloved</I>, which, crikey! was released nine years ago. I would've guessed maybe four years ago.<BR/><BR/>Solving tip (drat, I don't think this is in my book but it should be): Though it's not exactly a rule, often brand names are used in clues when the entry can't be clued another way. Thus, if MACH is in the grid, the clue's almost always going to reference the speed of sound or the root of this eponym, physicist Ernst Mach. Something like ATRA or TRAC, though...there's not much to use other than razor brand names.Orangehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17559144141235215318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28882876037088607162007-03-04T14:21:00.000-05:002007-03-04T14:21:00.000-05:00Not much to my liking. Theme was lackluster, missi...Not much to my liking. Theme was lackluster, missing "ah-hah" solutions, and requiring a workman-like approach-- get the first half of each theme clue with just one or two letters, the second half often requiring slogging through the fill. Also a bunch of "who the heck is that" clues and answers: Lesage, Elie Saab, Edna Best, Elise Kimberly (or is that Kimberly Elise?). Bring back Xzibit anytime and Pimp my Ride! ODIC? OKA? pa-leese!<BR/><BR/>Also, I somehow got off on weird tangents; I was convinced, I don't know why, that 27 across referred to the Minnesota Lynx, that 64 down was looking for a geometry term, and, like Rex, was convinced Cassio was a watch (despite the fact that I usually devour Shakespeare clues for lunch).C zarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12893340048068815126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31408973095621056962007-03-04T14:07:00.000-05:002007-03-04T14:07:00.000-05:00I liked today's puzzle - not too difficult once I ...I liked today's puzzle - not too difficult once I changed dictionary to unabridged in 63A. I, too, was thinking of watch brands for 55A. Preferred the clue to something with Othello in it. Gives the old brain some additional exercise. Feel the same way about 77A - Elie Saab insteasd of Weisel- freshens things up a bit. And, one of my favorite words at 34A - enigma. Don't know why. Just love that word.<BR/><BR/>Mary RoseCrsWrdLvr22noreply@blogger.com